According to the Hong Kong SAR government press release on October 6, Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor released the last policy address of her term of office, proposing the "Northern Metropolitan Area Development Strategy", which covers the largest area so far.
The report pointed out that a "northern metropolitan area" covering an area of 300 square kilometers, livable, workable and touristable will be built in the north of Hong Kong, which will meet the living needs of about 2.5 million people while forming a strategic layout of "twin cities and three circles" with Shenzhen, playing a "dual engine" role for the country and producing a "strong and strong joint" role.
On 6 October, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, delivered the Chief Executive's 2021 Policy Address at the Legislative Council. The picture is from the press release of the Hong Kong SAR Government
On 6 October, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , delivered her fifth policy address, the last of the current Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, outlining hong Kong's future development. The report is titled "Together for the Future". In the economic chapter of this year's Policy Address, the opening paragraph is titled "Integration into the Overall Situation of National Development", indicating that Hong Kong's development is closely related to national development. Carrie Lam said that as long as Hong Kong makes good use of the central government's policy of supporting the SAR and gives full play to its unique advantages, it will inject endless impetus into the economy.
Build a "northern metropolitan area" and build a strategic layout of "twin cities and three circles"
Carrie Lam said that Hong Kong has a high degree of international business advantages and occupies an important position in international trade. Last year, Hong Kong's gross merchandise trade rose to sixth place in the world. Benefiting from the Mainland's effective control of the epidemic and the stability of the supply chain, Hong Kong's total merchandise trade began to rebound from the fourth quarter of last year. In the first eight months of this year, Hong Kong's total merchandise trade reached HK$6,509.9 billion, a record high.
Carrie Lam pointed out that the northern part of Hong Kong will be built into a "metropolitan area" suitable for living and working, and more land for living and industrial development will be opened up. The "Northern Metropolitan Area" includes two local administrative districts, Yuen Long District and North District, covering an area of about 300 square kilometers, including newly developed and mature towns such as Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long, Fanling and Sheung Shui and their adjacent rural areas, as well as six new development zones and development hubs at different stages of planning and construction, covering the deep port and shore economic belt from west to east and the deeper hinterland.
The "Northern Metropolitan Area" can open up an additional 600 hectares of land for residential and industrial use. Upon completion of the project, the total number of residential units will reach 905,000 to 926,000, accommodating about 2.5 million people, and the number of jobs will be significantly increased from the current 116,000 to about 650,000, including 150,000 related jobs for the science and technology industry.
"Northern Metropolitan Area" and Railway Concept Introduction Diagram from Hong Kong Wenhui Network
The "metropolitan area" can promote the integration of land and port, and form a strategic layout of "two cities and three circles" with Shenzhen. In the course of the country's reform and opening up for more than 40 years, Hong Kong and Shenzhen have closely interacted, and seven land ports and connected transportation infrastructure have been built from west to east, so that the two places can be connected across the Hou bay, Dapeng Bay and Shenzhen River, forming a spatial pattern of "two cities and three circles".
The "Twin Cities" are Hong Kong and Shenzhen; the "three circles" are the Shenzhen Bay Quality Development Circle, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Close Interaction Circle and the Dapeng Bay HanyinZhoutang Ecological Recreation Tourism Circle from west to east. The "Twin Cities and Three Circles" covers the Shenzhen Port and Shore Economic Belt and the most mature urban core area in Shenzhen, as well as the northern metropolitan area in Hong Kong, where urban construction resources are converging at a high speed and still have huge development potential. The establishment of the spatial concept of "twin cities and three circles" is conducive to the Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments jointly promoting close cooperation between the two places in the economy, infrastructure, science and technology, people's livelihood and ecological environment, and exerting strong and strong joint efforts to produce benefits that one plus one is greater than two.
In recent years, the economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland has been continuously strengthened. The report points out that in addition to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the HKSAR Government has established cooperation mechanisms with the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian and Sichuan respectively to promote multi-sector cooperation between the two places. With the support of the central government, Hong Kong has embarked on the establishment of a new mechanism for high-level cooperation between Hubei and Hubei Province.
Hong Kong citizens overlook Shenzhen at the upcoming large-scale development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen junction. The picture is from Hong Kong Wenhui Network
Meet housing needs and improve people's livelihood
The "Report" also mentions the issue of people's livelihood many times.
The disparity between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong is a matter of public concern. To this end, Hong Kong has accelerated the construction of public housing, and in the next decade, the Hong Kong government has found about 350 hectares of land to build about 330,000 public housing units, which is slightly higher than the figure announced last year and is enough to meet the demand for 301,000 public housing units projected in the decade.
In addition to this, Hong Kong has significantly improved its cash benefits over the past few years. First, a high living allowance for the elderly was introduced, allowing about 570,000 seniors to receive a high allowance of HK$3,815 per month. Second, to optimize the Working Family Allowance Scheme, significantly increase the amount and relax the eligibility for application, so that four-person households with an income of not more than HK$22,400 and two children will receive up to HK$4,200 per month. Third, a series of measures to improve comprehensive social security assistance have been implemented, including a substantial increase in rental allowances and the relaxation of eligibility for a number of special allowances. Mrs Lam said recurrent expenditure on social welfare had risen sharply from HK$65.3 billion in 2017-2018 to HK$105.7 billion in 2021-2022, a 62% increase in four years.
Therefore, according to the 2019 poverty figures released at the end of last year, Hong Kong has successfully reduced the number of poor people from 1.49 million before the policy intervention to 640,000, providing substantial assistance to many grassroots citizens to lift them out of poverty.
In the future, the Hong Kong Government will continue to use cash benefits to help the elderly in need to lift themselves out of poverty, and provide financial support for lower-income working households, especially those with children, with the help of jobs; accelerate the construction of public housing and increase the construction of transitional housing.
Carrie Lam pointed out in her concluding remarks that today, under the dual protection of national security and the electoral system, Hong Kong has returned to the correct track of "one country, two systems", and she is more confident and more confident than ever that Hong Kong can be integrated into the overall situation of national development. As long as the SAR persists in taking "one country" as the foundation and "one country" as the root, and "patriots governing Hong Kong," the "two systems" will certainly flourish, and Hong Kong will still be the pearl in the palm of the motherland.
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